Blagojevich sues Madigan over special-session snubs

Tuesday

Gov. Rod Blagojevich is asking a court to force Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan to hold special sessions on the days and times the governor calls them.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich is asking a court to force Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan to hold special sessions on the days and times the governor calls them.

In a lawsuit filed without fanfare Friday in Sangamon County Circuit Court, Blagojevich also seeks to have the court order that Madigan, D-Chicago, force enough lawmakers to attend the special sessions so that the House can conduct business. In several recent special sessions of both the House and Senate, so few members attended that neither chamber could legally conduct business.

Blagojevich wants to assert what he says is his constitutional authority to call lawmakers into special session on specific dates and at specific times.

In early July, Madigan had the House meet on a Saturday morning rather than Saturday afternoon as Blagojevich decreed. Two weeks ago, after the House passed a new 12-month state budget, Madigan told members to ignore a Blagojevich proclamation calling them back into special session the next day to consider a one-month spending plan.

“The governor possesses the constitutional and statutory authority to call lawmakers into special session, and it is imperative that this authority is preserved and honored,” Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said in an e-mailed statement Monday. “After lawmakers failed to follow the governor’s special session proclamations to address serious issues like funding for the CTA, RTA and downstate mass transit, we asked the court to confirm the governor’s authority to call special sessions so moving forward there is no dispute about whether lawmakers are required to attend and address critical issues facing the state.”

Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said Blagojevich was calling special sessions even when there was no legislation pending on which lawmakers could act.

“I suspect there will be a motion to dismiss filed, and the suit will be dismissed,” Brown said. “They’ve made a farce of the special session process.”

In the lawsuit, Blagojevich’s lawyers argue that “the governor’s fundamental constitutional authority to proclaim special sessions has been and continues to be eviscerated by Speaker Madigan…”

“During the past two months, Madigan has engaged in a series of unauthorized and escalating acts aimed at eradicating the governor’s constitutional and statutory powers,” the lawsuit says. “Madigan’s actions have now spiraled into the formulation of a scheme to ensure that a quorum of the House is not present to allow any legislative business to be conducted when the governor proclaims a special session of the General Assembly.”

Madigan’s actions are in violation of the state Constitution, state law and the House’s own rules, the lawsuit contends.

When the General Assembly failed to pass a new 12-month budget by the end of June, Blagojevich announced he would call lawmakers into special session every day until they approved a full-year spending plan. Among his proclamations was one calling the General Assembly into special session at 2 p.m. July 7, a Saturday.

Madigan, instead, convened the House about 10:15 a.m., giving members time to travel home before having to return to Springfield Sunday afternoon.

By refusing to meet at the time set by the governor, the lawsuit says, “in theory, Madigan would possess the unilateral authority to wait 10 years, if he so chooses, to convene a special session proclaimed by the governor for tomorrow.” It says a ruling from the court is imperative because “the governor intends to call additional special sessions in the near future to address significant issues facing the state…”

Blagojevich also wants to ensure that a majority of the 118-member House shows up during these special sessions so that business can be conducted. As the special sessions continued throughout the summer, attendance in both the House and Senate dwindled to the point that, on many days, far fewer than half of the lawmakers showed up, leaving the chambers unable to conduct business.

The lawsuit suggests that Madigan deliberately thwarted Blagojevich’s calls for special sessions by granting so many excused absences to lawmakers that the House was unable to conduct business. It wants a judicial declaration that Madigan “is without the constitutional or statutory authority to excuse a sufficient number of members of the House such that it is impossible for the House to convene as a legislative body capable of conducting business…”

Only Madigan and the House are mentioned in the lawsuit, even though on several occasions the Senate also lacked a quorum to conduct business. On Aug. 5, for example, the lawsuit says Madigan “repeated the same unlawful conduct” by excusing 71 of 118 House members. That same day, only 17 of 59 senators attended the session.

“The Senate rules are different from the House rules,” said Rausch, who noted that the Senate does not take a formal attendance as the House does.

The Senate president also is Emil Jones, D-Chicago, a Blagojevich ally.

Blagojevich has called 16 special sessions so far this year. In 2004, during another extended budget stalemate, he called 17.

In the lawsuit, Blagojevich says additional work needs to be done, even though lawmakers have approved a budget for the fiscal year that began July 1. There are technical bills that need to be passed before the spending plan can be fully implemented, one of which authorizes an increase in per-pupil spending for schools. School districts are currently getting state aid payments, but not at the increased levels authorized by the new budget.

The technical bills have passed the Senate but not the House.

Blagojevich maintains that lawmakers also still need to work on increasing mass-transit funding and a capital-spending plan.

The lawsuit was filed by William Quinlan, general counsel to the governor. Three other attorneys are listed as well: Matthew Ryan, deputy general counsel; Melissa Riahei, deputy chief legal counsel; and Andres Stolfi, senior counsel. Comptroller records show that Riahei is on the Department of Revenue payroll, while Stolfi is paid by the Department of Human Services.

Doug Finke can be reached at (217) 788-1527 or doug.finke@sj-r.com. Bernard Schoenburg can be reached at (217) 788-1540 or bernard.schoenburg@sj-r.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
Waynesboro Record Herald - Waynesboro, PA ~ 30 Walnut St. Waynesboro, PA 17268 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service